Kolkata:
124, 147, 193. These aren’t the scores of any batter. These are the targets the Indian team has failed to chase in the last 12 months. Batting fourth has been a nightmare, over the decades, for the Indian team, and it continues to be as chasing continues to be India’s Achilles heel in the longest format of the game. Irrespective of the pitch, 124 shouldn’t have been a tough ask for the team batting till 8, but India succumbed to just 93 runs and conceded the game they dominated till the end of the second day.
Chasing hasn’t been India’s cup of tea for a long time now. 120 has been the lowest target India failed to chase in Test history, and it happened against the West Indies in 1997. When it comes to home Tests, 124 is the lowest total India couldn’t chase, while they couldn’t gun down 147 runs last year against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Lowest targets India failed to chase in Tests
| Target | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| 120 | West Indies | Bridgetown | 1997 |
| 124 | South Africa | Kolkata | 2025 |
| 147 | New Zealand | Mumbai | 2024 |
| 176 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 2015 |
| 193 | England | Lord’s | 2025 |
Forget lowest chases, India haven’t been able to put up a fight
Toss plays a massive role in Asia, especially India, given the kind of pitches they’ve been playing on over the last decade or so. Since January 2015, Team India has shown great heart in pulling things back despite losing the toss and bowling first. They have registered massive victories, winning 15 out of 21 matches. But in the six matches they have lost, they have been appalling, and the matches they won were the result of brilliant first innings performance. Whenever the Test match has gone into the fourth innings and the target is above 100, the Indian team has been poor with the bat, to say the least.
India’s margin of losses after losing the toss and bowling first in Tests since January 2015
| Margin of Loss | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| 333 runs | Australia | Pune | 2017 |
| 227 runs | England | Chennai | 2021 |
| 28 runs | England | Hyderabad | 2024 |
| 113 runs | New Zealand | Pune | 2024 |
| 25 runs | New Zealand | Wankhede | 2024 |
| 30 runs | South Africa | Eden Gardens | 2025 |
When the data is considered from January 2001, India have won 40 out of 67 Tests while losing 11 and drawing 16 while losing the toss and bowling first. But then, the pitches used to be flat more often than not with spinners coming into play only in the last two days of the game.
India dominated the longest format of the game, especially at home under MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli’s captaincy, but even under their tutelage, India’s trouble while chasing continued. With T20 cricket playing a massive role in batters’ techniques these days, it begs the question if the Indian team should actually look for rank turners at home or go for traditional pitches like the early 2000s, at least for the batters to gain confidence.
